Two Top Barclays Executives to Retire

Barclays PLC's finance director, Chris Lucas, and its general counsel, Mark Harding, plan to retire as soon as the U.K. bank can find successors for their jobs.

Updated from 1:44 p.m. EST with Barclays PLC's own announcement that finance director Chris Lucas and group general counsel Mark Harding have resigned.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Barclays PLC ( BCS) announced Sunday that finance director Chris Lucas and general counsel, Mark Harding, have decided to retire.

The news comes as the U.K. bank is moving to further distance itself from scandals that have tarnished its reputation.

Lucas and Harding will remain in their roles until successors can be found, the bank said.

"Given the seniority of the roles, and the importance of securing the right candidates, we expect that process to take a considerable time to complete, Barclays said in a news release on its Web site.

Earlier in the weekend, multiple media outlets citing anonymous sources had reported that Lucas, who has been Barclays' finance director for six years, was planning to announce his retirement.

Last June, Barclays was fined $450 million for trying to rig the benchmark Libor interest rate. In the wake of the scandal, former CEO Bob Diamond, Chairman Marcus Agius and COO Jerry del Missier were all forced to resign, leaving Lucas as the only surviving executive director from before the bank was fined.

More recently, U.K. authorities are investigating allegations that Barclays lent Qatar funds to invest in the bank in 2008, according to a Financial Times report this past week.

The bank is looking to turn a new leaf and plans to unveil soon the results of a strategic review under new CEO Antony Jenkins, who has launched a public push to restore integrity and respect to the bank.